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August 2012 Formulary Changes to the Top 10 Medicare Drugs

Category: Monthly Formulary changes
Published: Aug, 06 2012 10:08:48


The most recent (October 2012) Medicare Part D plan formulary data (or drug lists) updates include the introduction of Clopidogrel (generic equivalent for Plavix®).  We have chosen to include Altorvastatin, Clopidogrel, Escitalopram, and  Quetiapine Fumarate to the list of Top 10 Medicare Drugs, so our list actually includes 14 drugs -- Lipitor® with it’s generic equivalent Atorvastatin and Escitalopram with Lexapro®, Clopidogrel with Plavix®, and Quetiapine Fumarate generic equivalent for Seroquel®. 

The changes to the number of formularies covering these medications looks as follows:

Count of 2012 Formularies covering the Top 10 Medicare Drugs Program wide
    Formulary Count*
NDC Drug Name Start** Feb. April June July Aug. Sept. 2013***
00430047203 Actonel 35mg 36 DOSE PACK 0 0 211 221 212 215 218 229
64764030116 ACTOS 30MG TABLET (500 CT) 286 286 273 286 276 280 283 312
00173069600 ADVAIR DISKUS MIS 250/50 249 249 267 279 270 273 276 300
63304082790 ATORVASTATIN 10 MG TABLET [Lipitor] 0 0 196 213 256 275 280 312
00378362777 CLOPIDOGREL TAB 75MG [Plavix] 0 0 0 0 0 0 272 299
00078031534 DIOVAN HCT 160/12.5MG TABLET 276 276 265 278 268 271 274 232
00093585101 ESCITALOPRAM 10 MG TABLET [Lexapro] 0 0 0 0 248 254 262 297
00088222033 LANTUS 100U/ML VIAL 284 284 270 283 273 277 280 306
00456201001 LEXAPRO 10MG TABLET 237 239 232 240 231 226 156 92
00071015523 LIPITOR 10MG TABLET 225 225 215 223 190 151 138 67
00186504054 NEXIUM 40MG CAPSULE 199 198 194 198 194 194 196 182
63653117105 PLAVIX 75MG TABLET 287 287 273 286 276 280 258 114
47335090288 QUETIAPINE FUMARATE 25 MG TAB [SEROQUEL] 0 0 0 0 0 255 271 292
00310027510 SEROQUEL 25MG TABLET 282 282 268 281 271 274 198 116

*The formulary counts include both stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDP) and Medicare Advantage plans (MAPD) in all states and the U.S. territories.
**Initial 2012 CMS formulary dataset dated October, 2011
***Initial 2013 CMS formulary dataset dated October, 2012

You can review any Medicare plan formulary using the Q1Medicare.com FormularyBrowser at Q1Medicare.com/FormularyBrowser or compare how any medication is covered on all Medicare plans in your service area using our Q1Medicare.com/DrugFinder.








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